Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

What Are OKRs?

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are our framework for setting and tracking quarterly goals. They help us focus on what matters most and measure our progress.

Structure

Objective: A qualitative, aspirational goal

Key Results: 3-5 quantitative measures of success

Example OKR

Objective: Become the leading choice for professional Home Assistant installers

Key Results:

1. Grow active installer accounts from 50 to 100
2. Achieve 90% customer satisfaction rating
3. Reduce average time-to-deployment from 2 weeks to 3 days

How We Work on OKRs

OKR work happens asynchronously using GitLab Epics. Each OKR is tracked as an Epic in GitLab, with individual initiatives and tasks as issues within that Epic.

Why GitLab Epics?

• Transparency: Everyone can see progress on company and team OKRs
• Async Collaboration: Team members can contribute updates and discussion on their own schedule
• Integrated Workflow: OKRs are directly connected to the work we’re doing in issues and merge requests
• Progress Tracking: Automatic progress calculation based on completed issues

How to Use Epics for OKRs:

1. Each quarterly OKR is created as an Epic in GitLab
2. Break down initiatives into issues and link them to the Epic
3. Update progress regularly (weekly or as milestones are reached)
4. Use Epic discussions for async collaboration on strategy and blockers

This keeps OKR planning and execution visible to the entire team while respecting everyone’s time and working style.

OKR Process

Quarterly Cycle

Week 1: Leadership proposes company OKRs

Week 2: Teams draft department OKRs aligned with company goals

Week 3: Finalize and publish OKRs company-wide

Weeks 4-12: Execute and track progress

Week 13: Review, score, and reflect

Setting Good OKRs

Ambitious but Achievable: Aim for 70-80% success rate

Measurable: Key results should be quantifiable

Aligned: Team OKRs should support company OKRs

Time-Bound: All OKRs are quarterly

Scoring OKRs

We score OKRs on a 0.0 - 1.0 scale:

• 0.0 - 0.3: We made some progress but missed significantly
• 0.4 - 0.6: Made good progress but didn’t hit the target
• 0.7 - 0.9: Hit or exceeded the target (ideal range)
• 1.0: Exceeded all expectations (may indicate sandbagging)

OKR Examples by Department

Engineering

Objective: Deliver rock-solid platform reliability

Key Results:

1. Achieve 99.9% uptime for hosted instances
2. Reduce mean time to recovery (MTTR) from 2 hours to 30 minutes
3. Deploy automated rollback system for 100% of production updates

Sales

Objective: Build predictable revenue growth

Key Results:

1. Grow MRR from $X to $Y
2. Achieve 50% win rate on qualified opportunities
3. Reduce sales cycle from 45 to 30 days

Customer Success

Objective: Drive exceptional customer outcomes

Key Results:

1. Achieve Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 50+
2. Reduce customer churn from 5% to 3%
3. Increase customer expansion revenue by 25%